 Toru Dutt (1856-77) pioneered the Indian women`s English literary tradition in mid nineteenth century. Well versed in three languages - English, French, and Sanskrit - she was a novelist, poet, and translator. When she died at the age of 20 years, she left behind an impressive collection of prose and poetry. The fiction and poetry are skillfully crafted and reflect a passionate commitment to theme, character, and setting. The letters are charmingly written, limpid in style, and span the self-reflexive experiences of a young and impressionable mind. However, if read as companion pieces, and in the context of time and place, the prose and poetry develop a dynamic postcolonial view of the author and her writing. Struggling to emerge within (and from) the medium of her writing, autobiographical in content, or confessional in narrative technique, is a young woman`s voice struggling to negotiate the cross-cultural complexities resulting from the Indian-European encounter.A well-researched critical Introduction analyses Toru Dutt and her writing in the wider postcolonial context. It addresses questions such as where Dutt belongs; how far her life and writing illuminate the emergence of an imperial and later, postcolonial modernity; and how this formative postcolonial literary identity that she represents, evolved into the present day.
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